St John's post game thread

[sdglast]

I agree with a lot of this but Liam is effective going to the rim. Kid is a man out there and one of the best freshman we've ever had. It will be sad if this team can't go far and we missed watching him for 5 weeks.

Dude was beyond rusty the first half...bricking everything, having trouble with his handle and even had trouble catching the ball. He shot like cr@p but was still our best player and he's always our dog/emotional leader out there. Finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in his first game after missing 5 weeks of basketball.

Spot on with regard to Liam. He was tremendous last night and really the only player will to go to the rim and absorb contact. Solo is a great shooter but until he starts turning the corner on defenders and going hard to the hole, you are going to see 2nd halves like the one you saw last night. He has to improve that part of his game. He is too good to simply remain stagnant behind the 3 point line looking to get off shots. You gotta force the action sometimes, especially with a player of his caliber.

 

[gsmooth]

He would have gotten swallowed whole and spit out. There is a reason he didn’t play much, and the minutes he has he looked scared.

When not turning the ball over, the StJ full court ran a good 10 seconds off the shot clock before we even STARTED our offense, which after a few flips around the perimeter, drove us into panic as the clock wore down.

If you looked at the physical matchups on the court last night, we had one advantage - Tarris over Zubi. Tarris had 12p 15r and 3 blocks last night. He was dominant inside. With every perimeter defender smothering our 1-4, have no idea why we didn’t just find a way to dump it into Tarris to let him attempt to find offense near the basket. He would have gotten doubled quick, but also would have had a chance to find higher quality shots than we were seeing down the stretch. We had zero counter.

I was shouting "get the ball to Tarris" from the stands last night when St John's switched and had Scott on him or Wilcher. If Hass or anyone else had Zuby on the switch and couldn't see over Zuby I was hoping they would pass the ball to the wing and have that player pass it Tarris. St. John's defense was tough but I was disappointed they forget the ball to Tarris on the mismatches from the switches.

 

[gsmooth]

Didn’t look too hobbled? Wow agree to disagree. When this season is over I would not be at all surprised if we hear he played through an MCL sprain or slight meniscus tear. To my eyes he’s a different player than he was even 2-3 weeks ago. If he wasn’t a senior and if the team had better options, I bet he’d be sitting.

Absolutely you're correct. Hass's gait is messed up. I said this after the Marquette game: it is damning with 7 minutes left, or whatever it was, when Hurley subbed a very hobbled Hass back in the game for Mahaney and Hass played the rest of the game. It revealed how little trust Hurley had with Mahaney with the game on the line.

 

[gsmooth]

Honestly beyond me wanting to throw my drink at the tv a couple of times and hearing my daughter’s friend who came over for a play date whispering “why does your dad talk to the TV?”, the highlight of the night for me was seeing Ben Gordon looking good, clean and healthy. 180 turn from the last time he was in the news…

I got his and jersey and signed and had a brief conversation with him. He looks like he is in a great place mentally and he really appreciated the love he got from the UConn fans like myself for the jersey signing and the fans at halftime. It was nice seeing Emeka give the halftime speech as well.

 

[RuffRuff]

Absolutely you're correct. Hass's gait is messed up. I said this after the Marquette game: it is damning with 7 minutes left, or whatever it was, when Hurley subbed a very hobbled Hass back in the game for Mahaney and Hass played the rest of the game. It revealed how little trust Hurley had with Mahaney with the game on the line.

Dan Hurley has tried his darndest with AM - the white towel is unofficially waving.

 

[Kolumbo]

Mahaney - Aidan came in drove to the basket and made a nice interior pass but the receiver lost the ball out of bounds. I think it may have been Reed. That would have been a really sweet play if they had finished and looked a lot like Joey C to Sanogo. And that was something which was missing last night.

 

[RuffRuff]

Mahaney - Aidan came in drove to the basket and made a nice interior pass but the receiver lost the ball out of bounds. I think it may have been Reed. That would have been a really sweet play if they had finished and looked a lot like Joey C to Sanogo. And that was something which was missing last night.

Didn’t he throw it at his feet? I remember the play, looked like the pass was low.

 

[Kolumbo]

Didn’t he throw it at his feet? I remember the play, looked like the pass was low.

Could have been. I thought it was waist high but it happened very quickly. Can't find a replay.

 

[TheHorde]

Didn’t he throw it at his feet? I remember the play, looked like the pass was low.

It was. And AM should have taken the short jump shot.

 

[RuffRuff]

And It begins. lol

 

[freshler40]

I was shouting "get the ball to Tarris" from the stands last night when St John's switched and had Scott on him or Wilcher. If Hass or anyone else had Zuby on the switch and couldn't see over Zuby I was hoping they would pass the ball to the wing and have that player pass it Tarris. St. John's defense was tough but I was disappointed they forget the ball to Tarris on the mismatches from the switches.

This failure to get the ball to our centers is ongoing. We like our 3 pointers too much.

 

[cp176]

I attended my first UCONN game when Pitino brought Louisville in to Storrs. I was a high school coach and I have to say I was floored by what I saw not simply from the brilliant play on the court but from two of the best in the game - Calhoun and Pitino. From the guards ushering Pitino on to and off from the court to the incredible student section and just the crowd in general.

 

[HCCForever]

62 points

After the first 10 minutes, I figured that UConn had a chance for 90. I was way off on that.

 

[alphasigko]

20+ TOs and losing a 14 point lead in a total defensive and offensive collapse. So disappointing SMH. Where was Karaban?

 

[superjohn]

This place loves to live in the past.

2025, top two teams

Guards
Duke - 6’6” and 6’6”
Auburn - 6’7” and 6’4”

It’s trending boys. Coaches evolve, systems evolve.

The team that won it last year was 6’5” and 6’4”. Year before 6’5” and 6’5”. It’s even more important in running Hurley’s system effectively.

I don't know what you are responding to but you have post after post where you're obsessed with height. Diarra is our not tall point guard and he was really good until he was run ragged and got hurt. We all know the staff missed on Mahaney and Ahmad is a short freshman who has been hurt most of the season so we don't know what he can do. Solo is really just 6'1 and has been playing great. He played a lot of point guard last night because of our problems at the position.

This team would be filthy good if it had Kemba or Bazz. Mark Sears and Braden Smith were starting point guards in the final 4 last season and they're awesome this season. Sears is 5'10.25 Braden Smith is 5'11. Steven Ashworth is balling this season, he's 5'11.

 

[RuffRuff]

I don't know what you are responding to but you have post after post where you're obsessed with height. Diarra is our not tall point guard and he was really good until he was run ragged and got hurt. We all know the staff missed on Mahaney and Ahmad is a short freshman who has been hurt most of the season so we don't know what he can do. Solo is really just 6'1 and has been playing great. He played a lot of point guard last night because of our problems at the position.

This team would be filthy good if it had Kemba or Bazz. Mark Sears and Braden Smith were starting point guards in the final 4 last season and they're awesome this season. Sears is 5'10.25 Braden Smith is 5'11. Steven Ashworth is balling this season, he's 5'11.players -

All very good players, winning players, defensive disadvantages. Not obsessive as much as preferred. Our big guards swallowed up Smith last year.

Our 1 and 2 are small, intended first guard off bench also small, our defense is pretty pitiful. Correlated? Our offensive system is also built for guards that can see over defenders, the lob, etc. I

 

[superjohn]

All very good players, winning players, defensive disadvantages. Not obsessive as much as preferred. Our big guards swallowed up Smith last year.

Our 1 and 2 are small, intended first guard off bench also small, our defense is pretty pitiful. Correlated? Our offensive system is also built for guards that can see over defenders, the lob, etc. I

We swallowed up everyone last year. They completely destroyed big guard all everything Terrence Shannon two games before and held him to 2-12 shooting. Braden Smith was just 4-12 in the title game but he still had 12 points and 8 assists with only 1 turnover. We really destroyed Purdue because their other guards couldn't even get a shot off against our defense. Loyer had 0 points.

We're struggling at guard because Hass is hurt, we missed on Mahaney, Ahmad has barely been available, and McNeeley missed 5 weeks. Solo isn't tall and has been our best player the past 5 weeks.

 

[RuffRuff]

We swallowed up everyone last year. They completely destroyed big guard all everything Terrence Shannon two games before and held him to 2-12 shooting. Braden Smith was just 4-12 in the title game but he still had 12 points and 8 assists with only 1 turnover. We really destroyed Purdue because their other guards couldn't even get a shot off against our defense. Loyer had 0 points.

We're struggling at guard because Hass is hurt, we missed on Mahaney, Ahmad has barely been available, and McNeeley missed 5 weeks. Solo isn't tall and has been our best player the past 5 weeks.

Totally right - just following trends that win, and what I see as a huge advantage in this system. Plenty of truth in what you are saying but also offers limited upside defensively unless you small guard is a thief.

 

[Martin84]

Mental toughness. That was the difference in this game.

Yah I thought a certain player on this team would be the guy to “will them to victory,” (my fave jim calhoun quote,) but apparently that player isn’t that good. That’s ok. Still still supporting as there are plenty of fun players to watch

 

[Kolumbo]

Didn’t he throw it at his feet? I remember the play, looked like the pass was low.

It was. And AM should have taken the short jump shot.

Pass was chest high. happens at 6:34 of 2nd half. 1:23:26 of this video. Reed's defender came over to defend Mahaney and Mahaney scooped it to Reed. Not saying it was easy but it should have been a slam-dunk making it 54-50.

 

[Flipside]

That kemba team had shown a much higher ceiling at this point. And that team had Kemba. This team does not. It’s ok to be both a fan and realistic

Is this the ceiling referred to? ... someone get Michael Jordan on the line, I misunderstood the roof

 

[SwingDog]

Forty percent is about their average, isn't it? The glaring difference in turnovers says defense was the problem, at least a problem.

I'm sure there were a few breakdowns but I actually liked the overall toughness and tenacity of our defense (and no one fouled out). We made it pretty difficult for them I would say. Where we made it easy for them was with turning the ball over and giving them free extra possessions.

 

[HooperScooper]

This place loves to live in the past.

2025, top two teams

Guards
Duke - 6’6” and 6’6”
Auburn - 6’7” and 6’4”

It’s trending boys. Coaches evolve, systems evolve.

The team that won it last year was 6’5” and 6’4”. Year before 6’5” and 6’5”. It’s even more important in running Hurley’s system effectively.

So then why did he recruit Nowell? Why recruit any player who you think doesn't fit your "system"?

 

[homunculus]

Drives me insane. Oh yeah, Shabazz did this 10 years ago, it can happen again!! Did you not see our 99 team?

Go look at how many 7 seeds have won the tourney and circle back to me. Outlier. Want to know how many X a 7 seed or higher has won the tourney? Twice ever. We just happened to be on the receiving end of a rarity. And now people think there is some magic dust in Storrs that turns average teams into champs. News alert, it’s not the template.

The endless comps to Huskies of yesteryear. None of that matters. As if a player comp is going to turn them into a past player. Unless you’re making players from the stem cells of past players they are all unique humans with unique traits and personalities.

Were there player comps? Or were there Boneyard doomer comps?

 

[USNavyDog]

Question. Would last years Uconn team been better comparatively than this years St. John's team?

My answer. A resounding......Yes.....by a margin of 15 to 20 points. This years St. John's team would still be no match whatsoever with Clingan, Castle, Newton, and Spencer.

 

[uconnfan68]

Mahaney - Aidan came in drove to the basket and made a nice interior pass but the receiver lost the ball out of bounds. I think it may have been Reed. That would have been a really sweet play if they had finished and looked a lot like Joey C to Sanogo. And that was something which was missing last night.

Aidan should have shot that floater. Sometimes they get too cute.

 

[Scoe]

Question. Would last years Uconn team been better comparatively than this years St. John's team?

My answer. A resounding......Yes.....by a margin of 15 to 20 points. This years St. John's team would still be no match whatsoever with Clingan, Castle, Newton, and Spencer.

Thank you captain obvious that was last years team and this is this years team. You have to roll with what you have.

 

[1999GoodSon]

21-70 his last 6 games. He has absolutely wilted.

Statistics. Hey man everyone sees the same things. My point is only that Alex's body of work since the day he's put on the uniform speaks for itself and deserves our respect not constant ridicule. In what I call "the season of turmoil" a lot of guys and in my opinion the coaches also have fallen way short of expectations. We wouldn't be where we are today in the national spotlight without Alex Karraban. He's got plenty of good work left to show, and we should be pulling for him, not taking potshots from the gallery.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Statistics. Hey man everyone sees the same things. My point is only that Alex's body of work since the day he's put on the uniform speaks for itself and deserves our respect not constant ridicule. In what I call "the season of turmoil" a lot of guys and in my opinion the coaches also have fallen way short of expectations. We wouldn't be where we are today in the national spotlight without Alex Karraban. He's got plenty of good work left to show, and we should be pulling for him, not taking potshots from the gallery.

This is the type of response that annoys me. Literally NO ONE is not pulling for AK. We are all fans of UConn to the highest degree. This idea you can’t point out facts and have an opinion that a guy hasn’t been playing well is so dumb.

 

[Brad Palmer]

All in all we split the 2 games we needed to. Let’s go on a run here with Liam Back. We need to steal on of Marquette, Creighton, St John’s on the road. The road to 23-8 and 15-5 is still obtainable

With 4 BE losses, we'd need to steal 2 of those 3 to go 15-5.